179 dead as tsunami, volcano hit Indonesia

This photo taken on October 26, 2010 shows some of the destruction on North Pagai (Pagai Utara), one of the Mentawai islands off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island after an earthquake and following tsunami hit the area the night before. (AFP)

Indonesian authorities appealed for aid Wednesday after a tsunami smashed into an island chain and a volcano erupted less than 24 hours later, leaving scores dead and thousands homeless.

Entire villages were washed away and houses flattened when waves triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake late Monday pounded an area off the west coast of Sumatra, on a major fault line in a region known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

At least 154 people were killed and some 400 remain missing, officials said, as terrifying stories of the power of the waves emerged from the remote area.

"They have lost their houses and now need a lot of aid and assistance. There are some tents already arrived here but we still need many more," West Sumatra provincial disaster management head Harmensyah said.

"We need to find the missing people as soon as possible. Some of them might have run away to the mountains, but many would have been swept away."

Several hundred kilometres away on the central island of Java, another 25 people were killed when the country's most active volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted on Tuesday, spewing searing clouds of gas and lava into the sky.

Officials said almost 29,000 people had fled to temporary shelters around the nearby city of Yogyakarta, but there were fears for the fate of thousands more who had refused to budge.

Monday's quake struck in the Mentawai Islands, an area popular with surfers, generating a tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) and sweeping away 10 villages.

Survivor Borinte, 32, a farmer from Detumonga village on the coast of North Pagai island, said he managed to stay alive by clasping to a piece of wood. His wife and three children were killed.

"About 10 minutes after the quake we heard a loud, thunderous sound. We went outside and saw the wave coming. We tried to run away to higher ground but the wave was much quicker than us," he told AFP.

Several Australian tourists were also caught in the disaster. One group's boat was was smashed and they were washed into the jungle but survived. Another group of nine surfers was found alive after being reported missing.

The tsunami surged as far as 600 metres inland on South Pagai island, officials said. On North Pagai island, a resort and almost 200 houses were flattened.

Medical personnel flew in on helicopters but rescue efforts have been hampered by poor communications to the islands, which are about half a day's ferry ride away from the port of Padang, West Sumatra province.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cut short a visit to Vietnam for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders and was on his way to the Mentawais, which he should reach on Thursday, officials said.

"He wants to feel the pain and burden of the victims," spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha told AFP.

US President Barack Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a boy and is due to return there on an Asian tour next month, voiced his sadness over the deaths and pledged US help.

"As a friend of Indonesia, the United States stands ready to help in any way," he said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that he was not aware of the disaster having any effect on Obama's planned trip to Indonesia.

The massive Indonesian archipelago straddles a region where the meeting of several continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. It has the world's largest number of active volcanoes and is shaken by thousands of earthquakes every year.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake last year in Padang killed about 1,100 people, while the 2004 Asian tsunami - triggered by a 9.3-magnitude quake along the same faultline - killed at least 168,000 people in Indonesia alone.

Less than 24 hours after the tsunami, Mount Merapi erupted with clouds of gas and molten lava.

One of the 25 dead was the volcano's traditional guardian, known as Grandfather Marijan, whose body was reportedly found in a prayer position in his house on the mountain's slopes.

The 2,914-metre (9,616-foot) Mount Merapi, 400 kilometres east of Jakarta, is the most active of the 69 volcanoes with histories of eruptions in Indonesia.

It last erupted in June 2006 killing two people, but its deadliest eruption occurred in 1930 when more than 1,300 people were killed. Heat clouds from another eruption in 1994 killed more than 60 people.

Authorities had issued a red alert and ordered people to evacuate the area two days before the latest eruption.

Indonesia tsunami rescue under way

Indonesia struggles to reach survivors after huge waves batter remote island chain, killing at least 300 people.

Indonesian officials have warned that the death toll from the quake and tsunami could rise in the coming days [AFP] Indonesian rescue workers are struggling to reach hundreds of people believed to be missing after a tsunami smashed into a remote island chain in the west of the country, killing at least 300 people. Disaster management officials said nearly400 people remained missing on Thursday, three days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near the Mentawai Islands, in west Sumatra, causing three-metre high waves. The waves washed away at least 10 villages and flattened houses, as it surged as far as 600 metres inland on South Pagai island, officials said. Medical personnel were on their way to the worst-hit areas in helicopters but rescue efforts had been hampered by disruption to communications on the islands, which are about half a day's boat ride away from the port of Padang on Sumatra. Rough seas and bad weather also hampered relief operations. "We need to find the missing people as soon as possible," Harmensyah, the West Sumatra disaster management head, said. "Some of them might have run away to the mountains, but many would have been swept away." Disease fears Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Padang on his way to the Mentawai Islands, said the communications disruption had also made it difficult to get an accurate gauge of what has happened. "[Officials] are saying some supplies have been able to reach the island through boats, which are really the only way of getting there at this stage," he said. "But the message coming back to the West Sumatra government is that a lot more is needed." He also said that it is proving difficult to obtain an accurate death toll from the tsunami, as local media outlets are reporting at least 300 dead. Andrew Judge, the chief executive officer of Surfaid International, which helps local communities in Sumatra, told Al Jazeera that reports of deaths and damage were escalating. "We are working closely with the Indonesian government and our contacts in the surf industry to find out the scope and what needs to be delivered. "Our worries are not only with the deaths and missing, but also the evacuation site, health and hygiene, and nutrition. "If people are suffering from malaria or are malnourished, particularly the very young or very old, and they are moved away from their homes, we are worried about disease outbreaks and further deaths in the weeks to come." Scores missing But in some good news on the island, a group of tourists forced to abandon ship when their charter boats were thrown together by the tsunami arrived safely back in the Sumatran city of Padang. Eight Australian survivors, and American and a New Zealander recounted their harrowing encounter with the tsunami after setting foot in Padang on Wednesday. "They hit us directly in the side of the boat, piercing a fuel tank,'' Daniel North, the American crew member, said. "Almost immediately, the captain gave the order to abandon ship and everyone got off the boat." The group clung to surfboards and anything that floated as they washed in the wetlands and then climbed the highest trees they could find to wait for more than 90 minutes until they felt safe. Meanwhile, another group of nine Australian surfers were found alive and well after going missing following the tsunami, officials said. The Indonesian archipelago straddles a region where the meeting of several continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. The area is shaken by thousands of earthquakes every year. The Asian tsunami in December 2004 - triggered by a 9.3-magnitude quake off northwest Sumatra - killed at least 168,000 people in Indonesia alone.

Indonesia's tsunami warning system failed because it was broken, say officials as death toll climbs to 340

The early warning system installed after the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia failed to alert islanders to the latest deadly wave because it had fallen into disrepair, officials revealed.

The death toll from the double natural disaster has risen to more than 340 and hundreds more are still missing in the wake of a 10ft tsunami and volcano eruption.

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the ocean floor off western Sumatra on Monday, triggering a tsunami that smashed ashore and demolished entire villages.

Destruction: This aerial photograph shows the remains of a village that was swept away by the tsunami in North Pagai island, one of the Mentawai islands

Human cost: Villagers stand near the bodies of tsunami victims in Pasapuat, Silabu Island, West Sumatra

Relief: A member of a rescue team looks out at North Pagai island as his ship delivers aid to survivors

The fault line on the Sumatran coast is the same one that caused the earthquake and tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004.

After that tragedy, many countries set up early warning systems in their waters in the hope of giving people enough time to flee to higher ground before any future tsunamis made landfall.

But Indonesia's version, completed with German aid, has since fallen into such disrepair that it effectively stopped working about a month ago, according to the head of the Meteorology and Geophysic Agency.

Swamped: A lot of land is still underwater after the tsunami

Escape: Australian tsunami survivors talk to a journalist about their experiences in the stricken surf resort

Aid ship: A rescue team arrives at North Pagai island with relief assistance for victims of the tsunami

The system, which uses buoys to electronically detect sudden changes in water level worked when it was completed in 2008 but tests last year revealed operating problems, said the agency's chief, who uses the single name Fauzi.

By last month, he added, the entire system was broken because of inexperienced operators.

'We do not have the expertise to monitor the buoys to function as intended,' he said.

As a result, not a single siren sounded after Monday's earthquake.

It was unclear if the sirens could have made a difference because the islands worst affected were so close to the epicenter that the tsunami would have reached them within minutes.

The group that set up the system, the Germann-Indonesian agency Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS), could not be reached for comment, but Fauzi's comments highlight the difficulty faced by poor countries such as Indonesia in disaster prevention and response.

Meanwhile, rescue teams forced to stay away from the disaster-struck Mentawi islands because of stormy seas and bad weather have started arriving at the scene.

Some rescuers wore face masks as they endured the grim task of wrapping swollen corpses that litter roads and beaches in black body bags.

Huge swaths of land were underwater and houses lay crumpled with tires and slabs of concrete piled up on the surrounding sand.

At least 311 people died as the tsunami washed away hundreds of wooden and bamboo homes in 20 villages, displacing more than 20,000 people, said Ade Edward, a government disaster official.

The first aid planes - loaded with tents, medicine, food and clothes - landed yesterday but charities are getting 'grim news' on the ground.

Still a threat: Smoke rises from Mount Merapi as experts warn a second eruption of the notoriously volatile volcano is possible

Scorched earth: A man walks across volcanic ash-covered land at Kali Adem village in Sleman, in Central Java

Mass burial: An excavator pours soil over the coffins of the victims of the Mount Merapi eruption in Sidorejo, Sleman

Andrew Judge, head of SurfAid International - a group founded by surfers who have been helping deliver aid to the popular surfing destination - said he is hearing of 'more death, large numbers of deaths in some villages.

About 800 miles to the east in central Java, the Mount Merapi volcano was quiet but is still threatening another eruption.

On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the earthquake and tsunami, searing ash clouds spewing from Merapi killed at least 33 people and injured 17. A mass burial is planned later today.

More than 11,000 people live on Merapi's fertile slopes but around 36,000 people have been evacuated from the surrounding areas, according to the Indonesian Red Cross.

Indonesia tsunami death toll hits 370

A woman who lost her house and husband in the earthquake-triggered tsunami weeps with her daughters on Pagai Island, in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, on Thursday. (Tundra Laksamana/Associated Press)

Rescue crews and relief workers are losing hope of finding survivors after a tsunami swept through a remote string of islands in Indonesia, killing at least 370 people and leaving hundreds missing.

The three-metre wave roared through remote islands off Sumatra following a powerful earthquake on Monday, washing away homes and displacing thousands of people from more than 20 villages.

Joni Sageru, a 30-year-old fisherman, recalled seeing the ocean first recede and then return like "a big wall running toward our village."

"Suddenly trees, houses and all things in the village were sucked into the sea and nothing was left."

The West Sumatra provincial disaster management agency raised the official death toll to 370 Thursday, up from 343 earlier in the day. About 340 people are still missing.

Bad weather and rough seas slowed initial relief efforts, as rescue crews struggled to reach remote locations, including the Mentawai Islands, a popular surf destination.

Tsunami survivors weep on the tsunami-ravaged Pagai Island, on Thursday. (Achmad Ibrahim/Associated Press)

"This is a very remote area, so some areas are just getting reached," Jakarta-based freelance journalist Aubrey Belford told CBC News.

The government has deployed several cargo planes and helicopters to help deliver supplies and emergency workers, but officials are still trying to reach some of the more remote areas, Belford said.

Harmensyah, head of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management centre, said the rescue crews that had arrived in affected communities were finding bodies on the roads and beaches in devastated communities.

Harmensyah said the teams were losing hope of finding survivors.

"They believe many, many of the bodies were swept to sea," he told The Associated Press.

On Thursday, a 10-year-old boy found an 18-month-old alive in a clump of trees — though both the toddler's parents are believed to be dead.

SurfAid International, a relief agency that works in the area, sent an assessment team to survey the damage in villages in North Pagai and South Pagai.

"Villages in the area have either been completely destroyed or suffered significant damage," SurfAid said in a statement.

Some islanders slung up tarps to sleep under in areas where the wave swept houses into the jungle. Many refused to return to their homes for fear another tsunami might hit.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to visit affected communities Thursday, as questions emerge about problems with the warning system put in place after the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Officials told the BBC the multimillion-dollar warning system wasn't working properly because two buoys near the Mentawai Islands had been damaged by vandals.

However, Joern Lauterjung, head of the German-Indonesia Tsunami Early Warning Project for the Potsdam-based GeoForschungs Zentrum, said a warning did go out five minutes after the quake, but the tsunami hit so fast no one was warned in time.

"The early warning system worked very well — it can be verified," he said, adding that only one sensor of 300 had not been working, and it had no effect on the system's operation.

About 1,300 kilometres to the east in central Java, the Mount Merapi volcano was mostly quiet but still a threat after Tuesday's eruption that sent searing ash clouds into the air, killing at least 33 people and injuring 17, said Agustinus, a doctor at the local health department who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.

Among the dead was a revered elder who had refused to leave his ceremonial post as caretaker of the mountain's spirits.

The two disasters were not related, but they both fell along Indonesia's portion of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of fault lines that are prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

Mentawai tsunami death toll triples

The lucky ones: Survivors Daniel Scanlan (left) and Robert Marino walk on the pier upon their arrival at a port in Padang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday. The group of Australians said they were on the rear deck of their chartered boat, anchored in a bay, when Monday’s quake and tsunami struck. The 3-meter tsunami swept away hundreds of homes, and killed hundreds of villagers. AP/Achmad Ibrahim

After a tsunami hit the Mentawai Islands on Monday, one villager struggled through 30 kilometers of forest to reach Sikakap, abandoning dozens of bodies that lay strewn in his flattened hamlet.

Brenti’s home in Muntei Baru-Waru in Batumonga village on North Pagai Island — one of Mentawai’s three main islands, was devastated by an earthquake-triggered tsunami on Monday night.

More than 300 people were killed by the tsunami and about 100 more missing, according to authorities. They said earlier that 113 had died.

Brenti said the first wave was eight meters high and engulfed half of the hamlet. But the second wave struck like a giant wall and was higher than a coconut tree. It struck harder and deeper, eventually reaching the slopes of a hill more than 800 meters inland.

“Only 40 people survived. All 73 houses were gone. The night after the disaster, we — the injured and babies — slept under the rain on a hill in the back of our hamlet,” the 40-year-old said, as quoted by Josh Kamatis, a disaster post coordinator for North and South Pagai Islands in Sikakap, who shared Brenti’s story with The Jakarta Post.

“Those who survived were those who ran to higher ground after the first wave struck, while the dead were mostly those who could not escape the second wave.”

Brenti’s wife and two children were swept away in the tsunami.

When Brenti left his ruined hamlet, dozens of bodies lay scattered on the ground and over 100 people were still missing.

He said that most residents had not felt the 7.2-magnitude quake as they were inside their homes due to rain. Residents were shocked after hearing a thundering sound that resembled loud wave breaks about 15 minutes after the earthquake.

Soon afterwards, the tsunami swept the hamlet.

“The hamlet is just a name now. No more buildings. On Wednesday, 80 dead victims were found and 102 still missing. There were only 40 survivors,” said Kamatis, adding the dead had been buried the same day.

Two days after the disaster struck, the death toll continues to rise, with the disaster post listing 282 dead and 411 missing.

The tsunami badly damaged 25,426 houses, flattened six hamlets and forced 4,500 residents to evacuate to makeshift shelters.

Rescue workers and relief supplies intended for more than a dozen villages on the islands arrived by plane and helicopter on Wednesday.

West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency Operational Control Center head Ade Edward defended the agency’s decision to lift a tsunami warning that had been issued immediately after the temblor struck.

He said his office had not established a tsunami early warning system for Mentawai Islands, adding that even the most advanced equipment could not have processed warning signs fast enough to avoid disaster in the regency after the earthquake.

“The [epicenter] was very close and the tsunami arrived in just 15 minutes, so it was unnecessary,” Ade told the Post on Wednesday.

“The most sophisticated system currently available needs five minutes to process information from an earthquake before issuing a tsunami warning — and a issuing a command to respond to the field would take more than 15 minutes. It would have been too late for Mentawai.”

An early warning system would have been effective for the provincial capital, Padang, and for other areas along West Sumatra’s western coast that were more than 200 kilometers from the epicenter, he said.

When the earthquake hit on Oct. 25, Ade said his office had processed information from weather stations but did not issue an evacuation order since the sea level had not decreased. “In 15 minutes, we decided that a tsunami would not hit the west coast of Sumatra and informed the public by radio that there was no need to evacuate,” he said.

Mentawai Islands regency lawmaker Jan Winnen Sipayung said that some victims might have been asleep when the earthquake struck.

“Nearly all of the villages that were devastated by the tsunami were unconnected to the power network, so most residents went to sleep early. Some of the people likely failed to flee to safety after the quake,” he said Wednesday.

Mentawai Earthquake Beware, It's Just The trigger

Island-new Sibaru in Mentawai Islands regency, West Sumatra Province (92 is one of Indonesia's outer islands) filled with coral fossils.This was because the beach level rise of about 1 meter during an earthquake, December 2004.

Earthquake Experts: Not in Padang Earthquake Center Subduction Zone. Why SR 7.6 quake in the Sea of No Trigger Tsunami?. Based in West Sumatra earthquake magnitude 7.6 Richter. JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - 7.6 magnitude earthquake centered in the west of Padang, on Wednesday (30 / 9), is not considered major earthquake in 200 annual cycle that has been wary in the main zones, namely the Mentawai segment.The reason, the quake was not centered in the subduction zone, but the fault is in the vicinity.

"In general, this quake would create a more vulnerable segment of the subduction. (As an illustration only) If you should have major earthquake occurred 10 years from now, might be 5 years old again," said Dr. Danny Hilman Natawidjaya, earthquake expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), while dihubungiKompas.com, Thursday (1 / 10) morning.

According to Danny, the earthquake that occurred in the Valley does not reduce the potential release of energy in the Mentawai segment, but instead can lead to more rapid release of energy."In fact, make the main zone is more tense because of 'hit' from the side," he said.

Danny said, the potential energy release in the Mentawai segment actually been reduced, ie, when an earthquake happens Bengkulu on September 12, 2007.The quake was centered in the bag 'energy' are the same and reduce about a third.He said the release of energy in this zone actually expected a little by little.

History records, earthquake centered there have occurred in 1650 and 1833 and caused a tsunami that is estimated to as high as 10 meters in Padang.According to Danny, now has entered the Mentawai segment 200 annual cycle.However, until now there is no technology and no one could confirm exactly when it collapsed.

Derawan Island, a dream island for divers

Derawan Island-sunrise

Welcome to the lovely tropical islands in Kalimantan (or also known as Borneo) area, Derawan Island. An island with sea-colored blue and green shades are stunning, soft sand, rows of coconut palms on the coast, with a small forest in the middle of the island that’s become the habitat of various species of plants, animals and natural beauty of the enchanting underwater. No wonder if Derawan Island become top three world-class dive destinations and makes the Derawan as a dream island for divers.

Around Derawan Island, at least 28 diving spots identified. To explore all of spots you need about 10 days with one dive at each spot. To move from one spot to another, you can use the ship. You also can explore the island on foot.

Well, many activities you can do on Derawan Island, especially for marine tourist activities such as snorkeling, fishing, diving, swimming and observe the green turtle.

How to get Derawan Island

It’s easy to reach this beautiful island. You can simply fly about 3 hours to Balikpapan by plane from Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta or Denpasar. From Balikpapan, you still have to fly to Cape Redeb baout one hour by plane KAL Star, Deraya or DAS. In addition, Cape Redeb can also be reached by sea, with boarded the ship from Samarinda or Tarakan to Tanjung Redeb or followed by a motorboat hire.

Derawan Island-twilight view

Derawan Island-sunrise view

stunning scenery at Derawan Island

Green Turtle view on Derawan Island

Green Turtle swimming in Blue sea

Dderawan island-turtle view

Derawan island-resort view

Derawan Island resort-side view

blue sea of Derawan Island